Cutting game short, Girardi riles Valentine - MLB.com

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Cutting game short, Girardi riles Valentine - MLB.com Mar 23rd 2012, 04:48 By Ian Browne / MLB.com | 03/22/12 11:30 PM ET FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Fresh off a game-tying squeeze play in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Yankees on Thursday night, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine was looking forward to watching Clayton Mortensen pitch the 10th inning. This would have been another chance for Mortensen, one of several relievers in competition for a roster spot, to make his case. But as Mortensen got to the mound and conferred with catcher Ryan Lavarnway, Yankees manager Joe Girardi informed the umpires that his team was embarking on its late-night bus ride back to Tampa. The game ended in a 4-4 tie. Valentine was not pleased. "It was regretful that Mortensen warmed up, though, and then we were told they weren't going to play extra innings," Valentine said. "I don't think that was very courteous." Valentine, who saw the traveling list of pitchers before the game, didn't buy the notion that the Yankees were out of arms. "They had plenty of pitching," Valentine said. "The umpire came over and said we couldn't play. I don't care about not playing. It's just, 'Why do I have to warm up my pitcher, who's trying to make a team, come in in a tie game against the Yankees and maybe help him make a team -- and instead, he has to walk off the mound and take a shower?' That's just not very courteous." Girardi said he was just trying to protect his team during a busy point of the schedule. And when the Yankees built a 4-0 lead, Girardi had one of his potential pitchers for the late innings throw a bullpen session. "We used a lot [of pitching] in the last few innings," Girardi said. "We've got a long day tomorrow, too. We need pitching, and I don't want to run out. [D.J.] Mitchell, we had him possibly, but we had him throw a side [session], thinking he wasn't going to get in tonight. That's where it cost us. We have a responsibility to build him up, too." The Red Sox and Yankees will play 18 times this season, and while those meetings are never dull, the element of the candid Valentine should make things even more interesting. "Usually, you go over [to the other team] and say, 'I don't have any more [pitching],'" Valentine said. "I haven't been around in a long time. Joe knows better than I. I guess you just walk off the field. I'm sure he didn't do anything deliberate. It's just, I have to answer to a pitcher who is trying to make the team." Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Brownie Points, and follow him on Twitter @IanMBrowne. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

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